Bangkok dethrones London as world’s most popular travel destination

Thailand’s capital Bangkok has been ranked top of in MasterCard’s 2016 list of the world’s most popular travel destinations by number of visitors. The city took over from London which, after occupying pole position for two years, dropped to second.

Bangkok is projected to welcome 21.47 million “international overnight visitors” this year, according to the report.

Within Asia, Singapore comes second with expected 12.11 million visitors in 2016. The city-state is followed by Kuala Lumpur (12.02 million visitors), Tokyo (11.7 million visitors) and Seoul (10.2 million visitors).

For Bangkok, the forecast influx of visitors is more than two times the city’s population of about 10 million. However, due to its role as a regional aviation hub, the high number is also reached owing to Bangkok’s role as a stopover city for transit passengers to other parts of East and Southeast Asia.

The report also lists also lists the fastest growing cities in terms of international visitor arrivals. The difference between the global top 10 and the fastest growing top 10 destination cities suggests that Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa have become increasingly important to the global economic landscape. Many cities measured by the index have increasing growth trajectories, indicating the growing interest in both visiting and living in cities.

Osaka has shown the strongest growth in international visitors (24.15 per cent) over the last seven years. Other cities that made the forecasted top 10 fastest growing cities include:

Thailand’s capital Bangkok has been ranked top of in MasterCard’s 2016 list of the world’s most popular travel destinations by number of visitors. The city took over from London which, after occupying pole position for two years, dropped to second.

Bangkok is projected to welcome 21.47 million “international overnight visitors” this year, according to the report.

Within Asia, Singapore comes second with expected 12.11 million visitors in 2016. The city-state is followed by Kuala Lumpur (12.02 million visitors), Tokyo (11.7 million visitors) and Seoul (10.2 million visitors).

For Bangkok, the forecast influx of visitors is more than two times the city’s population of about 10 million. However, due to its role as a regional aviation hub, the high number is also reached owing to Bangkok’s role as a stopover city for transit passengers to other parts of East and Southeast Asia.

The report also lists also lists the fastest growing cities in terms of international visitor arrivals. The difference between the global top 10 and the fastest growing top 10 destination cities suggests that Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa have become increasingly important to the global economic landscape. Many cities measured by the index have increasing growth trajectories, indicating the growing interest in both visiting and living in cities.

Osaka has shown the strongest growth in international visitors (24.15 per cent) over the last seven years. Other cities that made the forecasted top 10 fastest growing cities include: